Eastern Ontario Development Fund

Up to $500,000 in grants for SME in Eastern Ontario

Government of Ontario

Overview of the Eastern Ontario Development Fund program:

The Eastern Ontario Development Fund provides support for projects and investments to existing businesses, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations for economic development in eastern Ontario.

Benefits of the Eastern Ontario Development Fund program:

The objective of the program is to provide financial support and services to help growing companies in eastern Ontario make investments to:
Grow their businesses
Improve productivity
Invest in innovation and skills development
Pursue new markets
Generate broad positive regional economic impact
Create new good, sustainable jobs
A project is a distinct undertaking, separate from ongoing operations, that will result in benefits to the organization such as business growth or access to new markets.
The types of support available include:
Funding support
Complementary services and support

Eligibility criteria of the Eastern Ontario Development Fund program:

Who is eligible
The fund supports business and community economic development projects.
Business projects
To be eligible, businesses need to:
Have at least 3 years of operations/financial statements
Employ at least 10 people (or 5 if you are in rural Ontario)
Commit to creating at least 5 new jobs (or 30% increase for companies with fewer than 15 employees)
Invest at least $500,000 in their project (or $200,000 if you are in rural Ontario)
Be located in, or plan to locate in, a community in eastern Ontario
To be eligible, projects need to:
Be led by municipalities, economic development organizations or sector organizations
Focus on economic and business development and job creation in the community or region by investing in infrastructure or implementing strategies to advance regional economic development priorities
Lead to measurable outcomes including private-sector investment, growth and job creation
Invest more than $100,000
Have private sector support
Be used for activities that are new to the organization